Democrats unveil new agenda

By Phillip RawlsAssociated Press

Published: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 at 10:50 a.m.

MONTGOMERY - Democrats who control the Alabama House unveiled a 2005 agenda Tuesday that includes making another attempt to remove segregation-era language from Alabama's constitution, including a part that others say protects the state against a court-ordered tax hike for education.

House Speaker Seth Hammett, D-Andalusia, and House Majority Leader Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill, said the House Democratic Caucus will be back with a proposed constitutional amendment exactly like Amendment Two, which Alabama citizens defeated by a narrow margin on Nov. 2.

The proposed amendment would have removed language in Alabama's 1901 constitution that mandated segregated schools and poll taxes. It also would have removed a 1956 constitutional amendment - added in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling ending segregated schools - that said there is no right to an education at public expense in Alabama.

The constitutional amendment got defeated after several Republicans, including former Chief Justice Roy Moore and state Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker, warned that it could lead to activist judges ordering the state to raise taxes for public schools.

Guin, an attorney, said he believes there are plenty of safeguards to prevent such judicial action, and he is not worried that will Alabama experience court rulings for more education funding like New York and Kansas have.

Guin and Hammett said the main reason for trying again is that

the defeat of Amendment Two gave Alabama a black eye in the national media, and other states are using it to try to lure away industrial prospects that are looking at Alabama.

"As a person who works in economic development, this is, in fact, used against us in our state," Hammett said.

Republican Gov. Bob Riley supported Amendment Two in the November referendum. Jeff Emerson, his communications director, said Tuesday the governor is considering calling his constitutional revision commission from 2003 back together and getting it to recommend what should be done about the segregation-era language in the constitution.

The House Democratic agenda for the legislative session starting Feb. 1 also includes a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages and $250,000 life insurance policies for Alabamians who are killed while serving with the National Guard overseas.

"Democrats are just as strong in their religious fervor as anyone else. Democrats are just as strong in protecting families as anyone else," House Speaker Pro Tem Demetrius Newton, D-Birmingham, said at a news conference.

Other items on the House Democratic agenda include: restricting contributions between political action committees, giving limited home rule to counties, banning pass-through pork projects, and taking the state's industrial recruitment agency out from under the governor and putting it under an appointed commission.

Emerson said many of the bills on the Democratic agenda look familiar because the governor endorsed limited home rule, the same-sex marriage ban, the PAC restrictions, and the pass-through pork ban last year.

"Governor Riley has led the fight for reform and accontability since day one," Emerson said.

<p>MONTGOMERY - Democrats who control the Alabama House unveiled a 2005 agenda Tuesday that includes making another attempt to remove segregation-era language from Alabama's constitution, including a part that others say protects the state against a court-ordered tax hike for education.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>House Speaker Seth Hammett, D-Andalusia, and House Majority Leader Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill, said the House Democratic Caucus will be back with a proposed constitutional amendment exactly like Amendment Two, which Alabama citizens defeated by a narrow margin on Nov. 2.</p><p>The proposed amendment would have removed language in Alabama's 1901 constitution that mandated segregated schools and poll taxes. It also would have removed a 1956 constitutional amendment - added in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling ending segregated schools - that said there is no right to an education at public expense in Alabama.</p><p>The constitutional amendment got defeated after several Republicans, including former Chief Justice Roy Moore and state Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker, warned that it could lead to activist judges ordering the state to raise taxes for public schools.</p><p>Guin, an attorney, said he believes there are plenty of safeguards to prevent such judicial action, and he is not worried that will Alabama experience court rulings for more education funding like New York and Kansas have.</p><p>Guin and Hammett said the main reason for trying again is that</p><p>the defeat of Amendment Two gave Alabama a black eye in the national media, and other states are using it to try to lure away industrial prospects that are looking at Alabama.</p><p>"As a person who works in economic development, this is, in fact, used against us in our state," Hammett said.</p><p>Republican Gov. Bob Riley supported Amendment Two in the November referendum. Jeff Emerson, his communications director, said Tuesday the governor is considering calling his constitutional revision commission from 2003 back together and getting it to recommend what should be done about the segregation-era language in the constitution.</p><p>The House Democratic agenda for the legislative session starting Feb. 1 also includes a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages and $250,000 life insurance policies for Alabamians who are killed while serving with the National Guard overseas.</p><p>"Democrats are just as strong in their religious fervor as anyone else. Democrats are just as strong in protecting families as anyone else," House Speaker Pro Tem Demetrius Newton, D-Birmingham, said at a news conference.</p><p>Other items on the House Democratic agenda include: restricting contributions between political action committees, giving limited home rule to counties, banning pass-through pork projects, and taking the state's industrial recruitment agency out from under the governor and putting it under an appointed commission.</p><p>Emerson said many of the bills on the Democratic agenda look familiar because the governor endorsed limited home rule, the same-sex marriage ban, the PAC restrictions, and the pass-through pork ban last year.</p><p>"Governor Riley has led the fight for reform and accontability since day one," Emerson said.</p>